Binance Teams With Ondo to Offer Tokenized Securities

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is offering tokenized securities on its Binance Alpha platform, according to a Tuesday (Feb. 24) announcement.

The company joined forces with Ondo, a blockchain-based platform focused on tokenizing real-world assets, like securities and exchange-traded funds, the announcement said.

“This update provides a seamless and powerful trading experience,” Binance said in the announcement. “Users can enjoy the familiar experience of Binance Exchange combined with the innovative opportunities of on-chain assets.”

Tokenization involves turning real-world assets, like real estate or commodities, into blockchain-based tokens that can be traded and divided into fractional ownership.

The offering is not available to users in the United States, CoinDesk reported Tuesday, adding that the launch represents a comeback for Binance. The company had offered tokenized stocks with companies such as Apple and Tesla, but it ended that service amid scrutiny from financial regulators in the United Kingdom and Germany.

The news came on the heels of a January report about former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao’s tokenization project. Zhao said at the World Economic Forum that he has spoken with “probably a dozen governments” about tokenizing their assets.

Meanwhile, the tokenization of real-world assets, rather than stablecoins, marked the crypto sector’s first serious play for the institutional financial space, PYMNTS reported Feb. 9.

On-chain assets make trading continuous, settlement instantaneous, ownership programmable, and intermediaries optional, the report said.

It’s the business model employed by blockchain-based lender Figure, which announced Feb. 4 plans to expand investor access to its On-Chain Public Equity Network (OPEN) and to extend the distribution of blockchain-native public equities on regulated brokerage platforms and self-custody wallets.

In January, the New York Stock Exchange said it was working on a platform for the trading and on-chain settlement of tokenized securities and was seeking regulatory approvals.

However, there is another, more complicated reality that may be emerging in parallel across the tokenization market.

“Public blockchains run 24/7, and settlement finality is measured in minutes, sometimes seconds,” the report said. “Custody tooling has matured, and institutional-grade infrastructure exists. Yet for most tokenized real-world assets, liquidity remains elusive. Volumes are thin, bid-ask spreads are wide, and exits often depend not on market depth but on issuer discretion and legal processes that sit firmly off-chain.”